The number of disputes between insurers and customers has raised mainly due to the low degree of customers' understanding over their insurance products, an analysis over the property insurance market recently published by Bank of Lithuania says.

The Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -, have recorded between 2008-2017 a trend similar to the other CEE markets. The same main pattern can be distinguished, splitting the evolution of the market in three periods: decline (2008-2010), recovery (2010-2013) and growth (2013-2017).

In February, 2019 the international credit rating agency FITCH Ratings, based on the country's sound public finances and strong economic situation, affirmed Lithuania's long-term credit rating at A- with a positive outlook, as the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania announced.

In 3Q2018, prices of compulsory MTPL insurance scaled down, while the entire insurance market grew by 13%. Having come into force in October, significant amendments have strengthened consumer protection within the insurance market, Bank of Lithuania stated in a press release.

SEB - one of the largest life insurers in Baltic region announced is planning to merge its units in the Baltic States, "into one legal entity to further improve our operational efficiency and deliver improved customer services. The merger will not affect our services to the customers".

In the first quarter of this year, the Lithuanian insurance market grew by 18.3%, the premiums amounted to almost EUR 220 million, and claims paid - EUR 115 million, according to the figures published by the Bank of Lithuania.

In the non-life insurance market of Lithuania, in the first quarter of this year, Lithuania's insurance belonged to the Polish PZU group, while at that time the Swedbank Life Insurance Branch was the leader in the life insurance market in Lithuania.

In 2017 the Bank of Lithuania settled more than 500 disputes between consumers and providers of financial services. Most disagreement (over two-thirds) was in the field of insurance, while disputes with banks accounted for a fifth.

Insurance company Ergo has paid EUR 2.4 million to a farm in Lithuania to cover losses from putting down 24,000 pigs because of swine fever. This is the largest insurance claim paid by Ergo to cover losses in agriculture in Baltic States in the past couple of years, BNN was told by Ergo.

Bank of Lithuania announced it issued a warning to ERGO Insurance SE - which operates in the country through a branch -, because as a result of an investigation, it identified that in administering insured events the insurer was not duly following the procedure for payment of the insurance benefit established in Article 98 of the Insurance Law.